Strathspey Thistle building new bridges to tap into local football talent
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Strathspey Thistle’s new head of football development got straight to work by organising a friendly match between the Jags and a select XI from the local Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare league.
Brian Ritchie has just been appointed to the role at the Grantown-based Highland League Club and is keen to foster local links leading to last Thursday's match.
This was the first time such a game had ever been arranged, and the welfare team managers were given free reign to pick their own squad from the six available clubs.
The Jags also had a couple of trialists in their ranks from the welfare sides.
There was a surprisingly large crowd which turned up at the bowling green-like Seafield Park including families and local youth team players.
The Jags sported their familiar blue and black livery whilst the welfare select donned Strathspey’s all-white reserve kit.
In the end the Jags ran out comfortable winners, with goals from Craig Mackenzie (3), Jack Davison and Thomas McInnes.
Kingussie’s Craig McLeod provided the welfare league’s only goal of the night.
However, the result was more a sideshow to the main aim which was bridge-building across all levels of football in Badenoch and Strathspey.
After the game, Ritchie enthused about the night’s entertainment: “I thought it was a fantastic night's entertainment and I was delighted to see the welfare league being so well represented by the local players.
“They played the game in a determined but sporting manner and gave a great display of organised and structured football.
"The local managers and coaches should be very proud of them and hopefully going forward we can start to field a select squad from the local area to play friendly matches across the Highlands over the winter months when normally their football has stopped for the season.
“Everyone at Strathspey Thistle was delighted to extend a warm welcome to everyone who attended, and we took massive encouragement and joy from seeing the large number of youngsters who came along to support both teams despite playing what looked like a 30 v 30 game behind the goals!
“We hope the new initiative 'Strathspey Thistle in the Community' has started a successful new journey in providing a pathway for all ages of football players, boys and girls, ladies and men to find somewhere to play their football to their maximum enjoyment and pleasure.
“We have already established relationships with Kingussie , Aviemore Thistle, Boat of Garten Ospreys, FC Abernethy, Cromadale, Spey Valley Youth, Strathspey Rovers and Aviemore Active Schools Football Team, so I am very confident in saying we are on the start of a happy and friendly
football journey.”
Equally enthusiastic was local welfare chief, Alasdair MacNeill. “This is something I have been working towards for some time now, but with Brian handling things for Strathspey Thistle that vision has finally become a reality.
"Brian and his family are firmly rooted in welfare football, so who better to truly understand it.
“I firmly believe in a feeder system for our game here with players advancing from the welfare ranks as well as trialists or players making a comeback being blooded at our level.
"Ours is a surprisingly high performing welfare league, especially for its size, but we’re always keen to make it better.
“With closer cooperation between all levels of the game, hopefully we’ll see some new teams joining the welfare set-up next season, or even the return of some of the old guard out of the mothballs.”
See a photograph of the two teams lined up in next week's Strathy
